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Actors: Denzel Washington, Christopher Walken, Mickey Rourke, Dakota Fanning
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about Man on Fire |
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Creasy, a hard drinking ex-government agent, goes to Mexico to visit his friend and former partner. His friend gets him a job as a bodyguard for a small girl in the kidnapping riddled city.
At first, Creasy is frigid and just wants to do his job, but after he attempts and fails to kill himself he sees it as a sign and decides to turn his life around.
One day, Creasy is shot and the girl, Pita, is kidnapped.
The crooked cop messes up the money drop and Pita is supposedly killed.
Creasy vows revenge on everyone involved. He goes on a murderous rampage collecting information until he finds out who was in charge of the kidnapping. He gets the kidnappers brother to try to get to the kidnapper.
The kidnapper agrees to trade Pita for his brother and for Creasy's life.
Creasy agrees. Once Pita is safe Creasy turns himself and the kidnapper's brother over to him.
Creasy, having been wounded several times during his rampage, dies before the kidnapper can kill him.
--Brandon Swenson, Resident Scholar
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On a first viewing, Man On Fire could seem to be your average revenge movie, with Creasy (Denzel) killing everyone who had a hand in the kidnapping of the little girl he is hired to protect (Fanning). But the reality of it is that Creasy has been saved by the little girl. A former special ops/CIA soldier of fortune, he has sunk into a haze of alcohol & hopelessness. He is also a religious man, but feels he has been lost along the way.
He takes a job as a bodyguard to the young daughter of a Mexico City businessman. Kidnapping for ransom is big business in Latin America, involving organized crime & corrupt police officers. Not wanting any personal involvement with the girl, Creasy just wants to do his job. Eventually Pita is able to tap into a place in Creasy's heart that he thought was long dead. He is once again able to feel human, to laugh, to care about someone.
Then kidnappers take Pita, severely injuring Creasy and landing him in the hospital. When the ransom drop goes bad due to an ambush, the family is informed that Pita has been killed. Even though his injuries are substantial, Creasy leaves the hospital. With the help of a friend (Walken) and a reporter for "Reforma", Creasy embarks on the mission of his life, to make everyone who had anything to do with Pita's kidnapping/killing pay dearly. The last third of the movie certainly has enough violence to satisfy any action movie fan, but in the context of the story, it is hardly gratuitous. The ending is happy and sad at the same time.
--Dawn Weger, Resident Scholar
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John Creasy (Denzel Washington) is a professional bodyguard who has gone down a few steps in the ladder of his profession due to his drinking (alcohol). A friend in the same line of business (Christopher Walken) needs someone to guard a young lady for less than the usual fee. There are gangs in Mexico who kidnap wealthy and/or famous people for ransom. A guy (Mark Anthony) has a daughter named Pita (Dakota Fanning), he needs to safeguard to cover the insurance company's requirements. The plot evolves from their meeting each other (main characters), developing a certain rapport, kidnapping attempts and scenarios. A ransom payment goes bad through the interference of corrupt Mexican police. Creasy goes about identifying, questioning, and executing some of the bad guys who were involved in young Pita's kidnapping.
--Carlos M. Vazquez, Resident Scholar
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An alcoholic ex-agent accepts a job guarding the daughter of an American family in Mexico. He does his jon he starts to connect with the girl and realize how great life can be. However one day he is shot and she gets kidnapped. As they negotiate for her release something goes wrong and she is presumably killed. After her bodyguard gets out of the hospital he seeks brutal revenge against everyone repsonsible.
--Jack Bauer, Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of Man on Fire |
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Movie
Actual chase scenes or violence - 42.5%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 20%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 37.5%
Time/Era of Movie:
- present (2000-2010)
Crime & Police Story?
Yes
Crime story:
- vigilante hunting down criminal(s)
- criminal kidnappers
Blackmail & Seduction
Yes
Criminal enemy is...
- drug dealers
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 40's-50's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
Hair color?
- brunette (Brown)
- brunette (Black)
Hair style
- short/standard curly (man)
Body type
- average (man)
Events of movie makes character more...
- aggressive
Ethnicity/Nationality
- Black
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Female
Hair color
- blonde
Hair style
- (woman) medium/shoulderlgn, straight
Body type
- very skinny (woman)
How much in movie?
- 80%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
Main Adversary
Identity:
- a criminal organization
Profession/status:
- criminal
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- 20%
- 60%
Hair color
- brunette (Brown)
Ethnicity/Nationality
- Hispanic/Latinoa
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Setting
The Americas (not US):
Yes
The Americas:
- Mexico
City?
Yes
City:
- Dirty, grimy (like New York)
- dangerous
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- moderately messy visuals of dead
Movie makes you feel...
- depressed/sad
How many deaths in film?
- 8 or more
How much use of techno gadgets?
- 2 (a little)
Kind of violence:
- guns
Unusual forms of death
- visually blown into pieces
Any profanity?
- Some foul language
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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